DIAMOND T PRIME MOVER (Pt.2)

[@lawrencecaile]

I can remember as a young tank driver sitting between the driver and co-driver of the Diamond-T holding onto the gear lever on the low box to make sure it didn't jump out of gear as we groaned up all the hills, yup I was hanging on for dear life, the thought of rolling back down hill wasn't a good thought.

[@MrHewes]

Legend proper trucking!

[@Des-xf9yw]

Lawrence Caile, fancy seeing you on here! This is my favourite channel, obviously we have similar history and interest. So you know who this is, I fly a like I drove in the army.... Desi

[@lawrencecaile]

@@Des-xf9yw Hi Desi I thought you might be in Jail having not heard or seen you for so long,

[@Des-xf9yw]

Jail wouldn't have me, didn't qualify. Im living in Portugal...Great to hear from you! This is a great site. Young Mr Hewes, has a great outlook and an honest recipe that suit's me... I've lost your number!

[@ewanstewart8011]

I remember reading in a truck magazine about a guy driving a Thornycroft Mighty Antar with a tank on the trailer, coming down a hill towards a roundabout the brakes failed, with a bit of quick thinking he turned into the lay-by b4 said roundabout and ran into a parked wagon with as it turned out a trailer load of televisions which cushioned the blow and brought the truck to a halt unlike the poor driver of the other truck who ended up on the dash of his own truck but otherwise unscathed. The driver of the Antar received a medal for his action in avoiding an accident which would have resulted in many casualties as the roundabout was very busy. Televisions in those days were built using tubes full of gas which worked as the first air bag 👍🏻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@-DC-]

Definitely needs a Jack's Mum Calendar hanging up in the back of the Cab ❤

[@billynomates920]

😃

[@craigpimlott204]

All the woke Fanny’s and Feminazi’s will be whining like an air raid siren if you put a Calendar with ladies on it 😂😂😂😂

[@gregedmand9939]

"Sympathetic Restoration" is the best motivation for bringing one of these wartime vehicles back to life. They were so heavily and frequently modified during the period they were "new", it's rather ridiculous for anyone to want a Concours version. They were built as tools to do a job and customized by every operator that had custody of them for more than a day. Anybody wanting to impose an artificial standard of what they should look like, beyond the most basic, hasn't a clue about the men who used them during conflict.

[@Thermopylae2024]

9:14 It was Ted's moment and he wasnt gonna waste it ... Well done Ted 🐕

[@thebrowns5337]

That colour matching on the door card is spot on. To a blind man.

[@n0bby_Barnden]

My old granny used to refer to her "back body" when going into unnecessary detail about her problems in the... No.2s department. So hearing this phrase repeated over and over brought all those queasy feeling memories flooding back. Thanks for that. Granny toilet trouble issues aside... What a cracking looking truck that is. And what a super-silky looking Ted! xx And YES to using a Diamond T to tow the trailer! Thanks for another great Sunday morning watch and congrats on top work again!

[@ewanstewart8011]

I will never recover from this comment 🤢

[@mike77905]

Ledge😂

[@neilturner4846]

Back in 1971 at the age of 16, I was an apprentice truck machanic. My first job every morning was to start our Diamond T wrecker with Dial Holmes 750 gear on the back and back it out of the inspection pit lane, drive around the truck park and park it up. Also the company had a Ford D1000 tipper chassis with recovery gear. The Diamond T certainly built my arm muscles up! The Diamond T was sold sometime around the 1980 and I think it went from Oxford and ended up in Devon/Cornwall way.

[@Joes1989]

Love a Diamond T! You can tell how good a bloke is by how much he loves his dog!

[@clivestainlesssteelwomble7665]

I get your principle.. but 🙄 sadly from Aduff Putler down human dog lovers have proved equally or more unpleasant as their rabid pooches... Never trust a Chiwowa .. 😉

[@wideyxyz2271]

Im loving Teds new business look. Great video. Any vehicle that old, during its service life is going to have repairs and bodges on it to keep it running. I prefer a vehicle with "character" rather than straight off the production line look. Battle scars are badges of honour. Modern wiring is a must for safety and reliability. I rewired all my classic bikes for that very reason ! Great video as always.

[@StevenG222]

Perfect truck to pull your ultimate off road camper! EDIT: After watching the entire video it seems my idea is not original!

[@philsteele7151]

Perfect off road camper has to be a Stolly.

[@blaze1148]

@@philsteele7151 I have to agree - great to take to shows - however as the Stolly is the best looking vehicle they have restored they are in demand - money takes priority over looks and practicality it seems unfortunately for the Hewes gang.....can't blame them tbh...they have to make a living 😉

[@craigphillips792]

Same thought lol

[@philsteele7151]

@@blaze1148 Guy i used to work with was ex REME, and had one as a repair vehicle, he had a cot in the back and said it was great as the engine kept it warm, though you are not going far in it though, at about four miles to the gallon, best buy a low loader as well, LOL

[@Herbybandit]

Dad used to always tell us of his adventures in Hong Kong with his Diamond T wrecker, one that always came to mind was the time it was hit by an anti tank round that came in the drivers door, through both seat boxes and out the other door without exploding! 😮

[@igloofireball]

May I ask, when did that incident of being hit by an Antitank round happen? Being a Hong Kong locaI I am very interested.

[@Herbybandit]

@@igloofireball that would have been around 1945/6 dad was with REME and was nearly always accompanied by Ghurkha support.

[@derekdee9592]

Teds the star all spruced up for the show 👍🚜

[@TheRichyrich1966]

Super lorry with just the right amount of fettling being done. Fifth wheel work a treat, Elliotts Of York used one on heavy haulage for years.

[@bellis8677]

This exact truck was technically the first ever wrecker I drove! Had Joan on the offside bonnet, and rolls engine!

[@w.w.2restorations.vehicles698]

I HAVE BEEN PATIENTLY WAITING FOR GOD KNOWS HOW LONG, to see more about this truck. BUT YOU, have decided to dilly dally around with Fodens, Kraut recovery trucks and "brown-eye" tanks. Thanks for finally getting back to what is really important Mr. Hewes. Oh and by the by, MORE TED IS DEFINITELY IN ORDER PLEASE.

[@barrythatcher9349]

Love the video of Ted getting his bath. The Diamond - T is an awesome truck.

[@ibana8449]

I was once an apprentice HGV fitter in the 80s, the garage I worked for had a Diamond T wrecker called "Lurch". It was replaced with a Seddon Atkinson Borderer 6x4 with a wreckers international twin boom crane.

[@DIVERBLOKE1]

Not seen a diamond T before. You are educating me. I can now see its a top US truck, now looked it up for 5 minutes so i am now (unofficially) an ex-pert. Many thanks. Pats to Ted.

[@grahamjones4888]

Great to see it coming on, I used to drive one on abnormal load movements as a tugger and pusher. It had a 34ton ballast box on it!!

[@leeparker7194]

Cracking job! Shiny Ted ❤💪

[@Ngarepairercar1990]

Great video, thank you for showing me the beautiful scenery of the country you live in

[@deanedeane4318]

What a fantastic looking machine ! So love the long bonnet ! Nice to see the star of the show ! Awsum Job Camera Crew ! 😉🙃😎 NZ

[@peterwardle572]

I agree, with that huge bonnet the Diamond T does have a presence, you know what it is straight away.

[@benjohn65]

The M19 tank transporter (US supply catalog designation G159) was a heavy tank transporter system used in World War II and into the 1950s. It consisted of a 12-ton 6×4 M20 Diamond T model 980 truck and companion 12-wheel M9 trailer. Over 5,000 were produced, and employed by Allied armies throughout all theaters of war. Designed as a heavy prime mover for tank transporting, the hard-cab Diamond T 980 was the product of the Diamond T Company in Chicago. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M19_tank_transporter

[@ragnarl9130]

My old. Pal. Passed his driving test in a diamond T, along long time ago now haha great lads

[@octopus680]

Ive had one just like that -a fantastic machine , my boss was in tears when i sold it, it had a 680 Leyland in it rather than the usual Rolls transplant.

[@HD-dz4uk]

When you can have trouble wiring a couple of sockets, you have my utmost respect for sorting that mess out. 👍cheers.

[@BoMcHenry]

It was a good update on the Diamond T. I recall that the cab was put together in a wrong way so the doors wouldn't close in a previous video. Overseer Ted got a bath.. became all glossy. =P Outstanding bloopers!. Keep up the good work lads. Tc.

[@MrHewes]

Yeah it took a fair bit of fiddling about to sort all that

[@paintedblue1791]

@@MrHewes The doors or getting Ted in the bath?

[@BoMcHenry]

@@paintedblue1791 Surely it was getting Ted in the bath

[@Pugjamin]

4:06 superb work on cutting that bit out, nobody will ever know!

[@kramttenroh]

We whey back in the seventies, we used Diamond T for recovery for Robert Dixson Crane hire, what peace of kit.

[@AW-Services]

You produce far better content and quality than anything that's on TV. Keep up the great work

[@HeidiLandRover]

A most excellent video of Sir Edward getting his ablutions at the spa. Some bonus vehicle content too!

[@tourettes4893]

Brilliant! A new episode of 'bottom gear'. 😉

[@the_lost_navigator]

I subbed just after you bought the T, and you've left me hanging since then... Looking good so far. It don't have to be perfect, just reliable. Respect

[@ewanstewart8011]

What mixture of dogs is Ted. We have a black Labrador who will happily go in any water but a bath, put him in the bath and he will shiver like he’s about to meet his end, he is such a contradiction oh and he’s also thin unlike any other Lab I’ve had 👍🏻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@bazzab1000]

Our neighbour has one of these, it’s a wrecker, old rolls Royce engine. Lovely bit of history!!

[@bazzab1000]

Runs like a good one, started after 14 months standing.

[@stco2426]

Cool Ted video, which also mentioned some greenish things with roundish parts in contact with the dust that Ted likes.

[@andrewtaylor6263]

You could fit Jack in the pet bath !!! Maybe a new video 😂😂

[@roobarb8463]

Ah, it was a pet bath. I thought they'd put him in the parts washer...

[@patd5146]

Diamond T is a great idea.....looking forward to that resto .

[@markhorrell9213]

Cheers from OZ.,.,always happy to see you including us in your segments. I've always had a soft spot for Ww2 gear as l too grew up on farms using n fixing this equipment. I have a soft spot for blitz's

[@paoloviti6156]

Yes the Diamond T recovery vehicle that was considered a very good vehicle. I understand that this vehicle belongs to the customer so you will not keep it as it would have been in good company with the Scammel and the Fenton! Yet I'm quite surprised that it was powered by only 131 hp yet it seems to have done an excellent service! I'm glad that you both polished up the great supervisor Ted and he's really to have some attention again. Looking forward to see the subsequent restoration on this vehicle good job as always 👏 👍 👌

[@ldnwholesale8552]

131 massive Clydesdales.

[@Duke_of_Petchington]

when you were holding and petting Ted at the end, you could see the smug energy coming off of him.

[@marksearcy9708]

At least your not climbing the walls yet🤣🤣Great update looking forward to see more.

[@Tommy_Poole]

What a fantastic Job. Considering it not supposed to be a million dollar restoration it certainly loots like one. Well done Ted. Extra treats for you later.

[@Ralph94967]

Joe. Yes. Good idea. On the diamond T. Tow waggon.

[@mikemcginley6309]

I love Diamond T's, glad to see one in good shape.

[@darrenhawken9766]

Cool truck , great reference book is Diamond T Les Freathy and Robin Pearson, yes they've already made one with fifth wheel and enclosed cab , great work thanks for sharing 👍💨💨

[@teamidris]

WAGO connectors every time for off-road machines, they self tighten :o) (better than crimps or screw blocks, but not as good as soldered.)

[@NotALot-xm6gz]

Those blue crimp connectors are fine on something that doesn’t move or vibrate and lives in an environment with zero humidity. On a vehicle used in Britain, they’re as much use as a chocolate teapot.

[@karlpentin4420]

Can't belive Ted was happy going in a degreaser bath.. what legend!!

[@marcuswardle3180]

Be thankful the wiring isn't very, very old! Sometime ago I found some electric cable in a building. It looked like mains cabling, thick and grey. When we removed it the wire was wound with thread and all encased in lead! it was original 1900's house cabling!

[@fredjones100]

Probably considerably less likely to catch fire than that rubber insulated stuff on the truck. Worth more as scrap, too...

[@kevinwilliams4899]

I found your channel for the tank's and stayed for Ted. Keep up the great content, love it guy's.

[@johngell4842]

Brilliant up date And a clean lord Teddy Dave crouch has george and Harry sanders diamond T now I was always amazed on the horse power of these trucks and the length of the bonnet Harry sanders once told us one of there drivers didn't see the car in front of him in a traffic jam and drove over it oops 😮

[@mitchellbennis9236]

Thank goodness you explained where part #1 was. I couldn’t remember watching part 1, though I was going crazy!

[@gerardhogan3]

The truck is looking good. Yes Hewesy they are a great looking truck and yes towing the trailer would look great.

[@grantmuddiman5981]

Yes living van on the back of diamond T would look great l enjoy your videos l don't get out much being disabled since having two stoke Keep up the good video 😊

[@animalian01]

I agree, the customer vehicles come first, the money needs to keep coming in.

[@mrsock3380]

For the needle gunning large flat areas on tanks, I used to work in marine and when something was particularly rusty or think paint we used a pneumatic concrete scabbler, they use a lot of air so I don't know if it will be suitable for you, but it might be worth looking into them or hiring one, they have different heads, the cross heads were a bit more gentle than the pointy heads on steel.

[@susanemery6976]

Hi there, just came across this episode, my late father drove one of these during ww2. It pulled a flat trailer with a lorraine crane and the rig was used to recover downed aircraft from the indian jungle. Just thought it may of interest to you.

[@GrevilleRyan]

Enjoyed watching...looking forward to the next update on the truck...

[@jfen1974]

Love the diamond t content, would make an excellent caravan hauler

[@HOWEARTDOTNET]

Soon, when you become syndicated, they will demand your fly to be fully closed. Until that time, at the risk of being rhetorical, this is a fantastic channel, fly or no, no matter what you are doing or how long it takes. Thank you.

[@buckrogers2828]

One of the ole boys in my fishing club years back was around Diamond T's/Tanks and other mechanical items!. One of the Wags in the workshop thought it was amusing to swing the Dizzy round so when someone tried starting it up when they was working on it! and eventually got it to fire up it produces a massive Backfire esp in the confines of a workshop that guy underneath it almost had an heart attack!.

[@pattyjslackin]

Love the dimond t to 5th wheel conversion idea 👍

[@mrdwets8952]

In regards to how far you should go, my opinion would be take it in strides. You could still plan on fixing everything but you can do it over the years. Get it good enough and safe, then as you go, you may find something you'd like to change or add. Obviously that is a lot of work and I'm just sitting in my chair so its easy for me to say! You lot do a fantastic job on your projects and restorations so I think you'll make a good call in the end.

[@peterburton3147]

Stuff the vehicles, how about a episode dedicated to the star of your episode - Ted! We need to know more lol. Changing to a least important item, yes, it's a perfect vehicle to pull the camper! Cheers!!

[@bluesteel6612]

Thank you for the update best wishes with everything

[@OmarFawcett]

I recently bought a 1:35 scale model kit of this truck with it's transporter trailer. Awesome truck!

[@johnshaw4140]

Every boy needs a Diamond T , good idea to pull your living van

[@MikeT-TheRetiredColonel]

I've always been fond of the Diamond T and have a book of them sitting at home, of course, I'm at my Mum's until Monday night, so I can't pull it out and look at some of the pics to see about the headliner and other bits you mentioned. Keep up the great work, fairly new sub and loving what you do (esp shots with Teddy) :)

[@alexsiegfried3693]

Stopped The Grand Tour's last special they'll ever make to watch this. Been forever since you guys featured the diamond T

[@MrHewes]

🤣 I must watch that also at some point

[@razzo15]

@@MrHewesI watched it last night 😢 so sad

[@SiaVids]

It was good to see Ted getting some regular maintenance too. 😁

[@stangiles2001]

brand new dog , is my fave Terrific Ted

[@davechipling169]

Great to see it back

[@CobwobblersBikes]

What a piece of kit, definitely slap a 5th on one for giggles...

[@JohnRaisbeck]

Let us know what Ted thinks. His body language summed it up with a yawn and stretch. Great update

[@mitchellbennis9236]

That’s a brilliant idea about buying another- T, putting a fifth wheel on it and towing the converted caravan to the shows.

[@jimdieseldawg3435]

Big 981 fan here 🙂 Your sympathetic resto is very appropriate. While I love the idea of an original 981 tractor (982?) on the living van, I think you’d struggle with the chassis height - also, the original fifth wheel is a heavy-duty version with a bigger diameter pin and super-heavy-duty lead-up ramps. I guess if you acquire an ex-Wynns/Pickfords tractor or one of the Holmes wrecker conversions on 20s with road tyres, that might address the height a bit and it’s probably feasible to build a new fifth wheel mount for a modern fifth wheel though 🙂 I’ll never dissuade anyone from saving a 981 😎

[@douhacomcastnet]

Great to see that Teddy is right on the job. 😅😅😮😊❤

[@Ralph94967]

I would think the folks watching all the stuff you do. Have know how that it takes time to get anything back to a decent standard. Of operation. Oh a bet Jacks going to be chuffed at painting again 😂 All in all. Looks pretty Dam Good.

[@dirtywetdogboatsandsailing6805]

That's quite a nice little climbers 'layback' move you got there fella

[@980981]

It’s well worth doing as much of it as accurately as possible, I get your point about the fuel tank but either make one good tank or put a new one inside the old one, I sprayed the inside of my cab roof with some stone guard you can paint over it and it tidies it up a bit. 👍🏻

[@mattdoe7549]

Like your thinking for your prime mover , diamond T💪

[@Blondie5791]

Your videos are excellent viewing. You work on some very interesting vehicles. Just watching this one about restoring the truck and I was wondering how you go about setting a budget on time and money. Even sourcing the parts must take a huge amount of time. Anyway well done 👍

[@TX-biker]

Life 101 You have to make money (customer vehicles) to enjoy life (your vehicles) Press on, we will watch you play ball with Ted if that’s all you give us. 🤣🤠

[@philipB31]

Much as I think there may be nothing cooler than a Diamond T transporter, I went off on eBay after watching this and spotted a GMC CCKW 353 1944 with radio body which would kill two birds… but not with one stone, probably… regardless: that wiring was bad before the choccy-blocks were added!

[@WilliamOBrien-s8x]

Great idea with the diamond t towing the trailer, it'll look awesome

[@lukefriesenhahn8186]

The Diamond T seems to be a cool truck. 👍😎

[@jonh9561]

Diamond T with a fifth wheel is a must really. Even better if it has a rag top, which you can take off in the summer.

[@Judith-c6r]

Great show of how to rebuild a vehicle so one can use it safely. At least the wiring on these is very simple but time consuming. Consider having the dynamo body converted with alternator internals.

[@ihak707]

The Diamond T is a beautiful truck, you should definitely use it to tow the trailer

[@lesthiele4921]

Hi guys, the sympathetic restoration looks perfect, just think when it is up and running it will be take to tske the wife or girlfriend or both out on a Friday night for date night, best regards from a Kiwi living in Australia, Les

[@andrewchesters5683]

Loving all the updates, look forward to evey video

[@Xyzabc998]

Prize for silliest name for a military veeehicle. Coming along nicely though. Another good job.

[@alongthebannsidecfc1]

you need to keep the money flowing and personnal projects go onto the backburner. just keep doing what your doing.

[@markgarvey5859]

Wat a pound lol it a cool truck 🚚 an I don't know how u do all u do with jack always sleeping 😴 😅 we love your videos I think u should open a small farm shop in U.S. next to disel brothers or WHISTLING DISEL FARM IT BE GREAT. Love all your videos keep them coming. Just mount some cameras with laser trackers around Ted such a great dog an great boss😅

[@carljohnson6684]

Bloopers at the end of a video is good 😂

[@LonnieDunn-qs9ur]

I'd like to suggest you buying a Studebaker US6 Truck instead of the Diamond T to be the tow vehicle for your military communication house trailer. It uses the same civilian cab as your Dad's 1941-48 Studebaker M-series pickup. Your Dad might get a kick out of that

[@Ralph94967]

Joe. Jack is a diamond. Just his way of telling every body. Their twats. Sarcasm. Works for all of us

[@ellisdiggle1523]

My mate owns a Diamond T Recovery Vehicle , awesome bit of kit. His one does have a mesh guard over the rear window. Better safe than sorry when lifting a Stuart i guess.